The title is adopted from the 1914 poem “The Congo”, by Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay. Condemning Leopold’s actions, Lindsay wrote: Listen to the yell of Leopold’s ghost, Burning in Hell for his hand-maimed host.
Is King Leopold real?
Leopold II, French in full Léopold-Louis-Philippe-Marie-Victor, Dutch in full Leopold Lodewijk Filips Maria Victor, (born April 9, 1835, Brussels, Belgium —died December 17, 1909, Laeken), king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909.
What did King Leopold do to the Congo?
On February 5, 1885, Belgian King Leopold II established the Congo Free State by brutally seizing the African landmass as his personal possession . ... The people of the Congo were forced to labor for valued resources, including rubber and ivory, to personally enrich Leopold.
How much money did King Leopold make from the Congo?
Marchal, the Belgian scholar, estimates that Leopold drew some 220 million francs (or $1.1 billion in today’s dollars ) in profits from the Congo during his lifetime.
What bad things did King Leopold do?
From the beginning, Leopold ignored these conditions. Millions of Congolese inhabitants, including children, were mutilated, killed or died from disease during his rule. He ran the Congo using the mercenary Force Publique for his personal enrichment. Failure to meet rubber collection quotas was punishable by death.
Who is the current king of Belgium?
Philippe, king of Belgium, in full Philippe Léopold Louis Marie , (born April 15, 1960, Brussels, Belgium), king of the Belgians from 2013. Philippe was the first of three children of Albert II, who became Belgium’s sixth king in 1993.
Why did they cut off hands in the Congo?
All blacks saw this man as the devil of the Equator ... From all the bodies killed in the field , you had to cut off the hands. He wanted to see the number of hands cut off by each soldier, who had to bring them in baskets ... A village which refused to provide rubber would be completely swept clean.
How many died in the Congo genocide?
Ultimately, nine African countries and around twenty-five armed groups became involved in the war. By 2008, the war and its aftermath had caused 5.4 million deaths , principally through disease and starvation, making the Second Congo War the deadliest conflict worldwide since World War II.
Why did Belgium want the Congo?
It was established by the Belgian parliament to replace the previous, privately owned Congo Free State, after international outrage over abuses there brought pressure for supervision and accountability. The official Belgian attitude was paternalism : Africans were to be cared for and trained as if they were children.
How did the Congo Free State end?
Demise of Congo Free State, 1908.
Following reports of mistreatment of native peoples that provoked international outrage, the Congo Free State was annexed as a colony by Belgium on November 15, 1908, which ended its existence as an independent sovereign state.
How did Belgium lose the Congo?
In 1904 Leopold II was forced to allow an international parliamentary commission of inquiry entry to the Congo Free State. By 1908, public pressure and diplomatic manoeuvres led to the end of Leopold II’s personal rule and to the annexation of the Congo as a colony of Belgium, known as the “Belgian Congo”.
Was the Congo Free State a genocide?
And although all the European colonial powers decimated the areas of the African continent they had control over, the genocide carried out in King Leopold’s name is usually pointed to as the most devastating. ...
Why do they cut off hands in Africa?
To make up for the low production, troops began to use hands as currency – chopping them was a way of punishing workers who did not fulfill their quotas , and, at the same time, served to show that soldiers were doing their part in exerting pressure over the local population to ensure the fulfillment of these quotas.
Did Albert really fall through the ice?
Albert’s Ice Skating Accident
A similar incident happened in real life ! On the day before their first anniversary, Victoria and Albert went ice skating. When Albert fell into the ice, Victoria reached out and he caught her arm. He was pulled to safety and survived the ordeal.
Did King Albert have dyslexia?
Albert Edward was born to Victoria and Albert on Nov. 9, 1841. He was a terrible student; it is possible he was dyslexic , Weintraub writes, and highly probable that he suffered from attention deficit disorder. ... His parents could not change Bertie’s “alarming temper and his sluggish intellect,” Weintraub informs us.
